There's an interesting "competition" going on between America's luxury car
manufacturers, and it's a competition where we the consumers can do nothing but win.

Cadillac has its Eldorado, specifically the Touring Coupe. Lincoln has the Mark
VIII, particularly the LSC (supposedly standing for "Luxury Sports Car"). Both are high
performance cars produced by two of America's most conservative and old-line
manufacturers. Both showcase their manufacturers' technological progress in engines,
design, suspensions and luxury features.

Both are excellent automobiles, and the fun for the person who can afford one is
choosing between the two. As they say, it's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Our choice was made for us in this week's tester, the Lincoln Mark VIII LSC. The
Mark is the logical extension of the line of cars extending all the way back to Edsel ford's
original 1939 Lincoln Continental. After the first one came the 1948 Continental, which was
similar to the original but different enough to develop its own character and following.

Next in line was the 1955 Mark II (technically, there was never a Mark I), which I
think was one of the most beautiful cars ever made. There was a short string of Marks after
II, but because they weren't very memorable, the line stopped and almost ended. However,
Lincoln thought better of it and re-introduced the Mark III in 1969. Fortunately, the line
of Marks has continued to this day with cars that were far more memorable than the
aborted line.

Back to the Mark VIII. The VIII belongs with the others because it is luxurious, it is
powerful, it has very good handling for a large car, and it's a good "driver." This is what
Edsel Ford was looking for in the late 1930s and if he was alive today, he'd approve.

Recent developments with the Mark have been interesting; with the flap over
NASCAR aerodynamics, some teams have built racing versions of the Mark VIII because
it has the potential to be more aerodynamic than the Thunderbird.

The Mark VIII is powered by a 4.6-liter double overhead cam V-8 that is rated at
280 horsepower. It drives the front wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission
that is extremely smooth. You can generate engine noise and hard shifting under hard
acceleration and robust driving, but under normal conditions, this car is as smooth as they
come. There are smoother cars, but at double the price.

Front passengers sit in leather-faced seats that offer some side support, but the
support is primarily for comfort and not to hold you in the seat on hard cornering. The driver
is "wrapped" in the instrument panel, and has full command of all the switches and controls.
The car is very automatic, so there isn't a lot for the driver to do except change the radio
station or switch between CDs in the trunk-mounted changer, but it's nice to know he or she
doesn't have to stretch too far to reach the clearly labeled controls. In addition, the dash is a
nice three-dimensional design. Any computer junkie will have a ball playing with the fuel
management computer controls.

Rear seat passengers don't have to suffer, as do most rear seat passengers in two
door cars. There is adequate legroom as well as good shoulder and hip room for two
passengers. I was surprised that there weren't heating/cooling vents for anyone riding back
there.

My one major complaint with the Mark was that the driver's seat returned to some
vague memory position every time the key fob button was pushed. I'm sure there's a way to
overcome this, like setting all the memory positions to the same settings, but the car should
at least retain the last seat position it had rather than reset to another position. Fortunately,
the radio station didn't change, too.

The trunk was a decent size for two passengers and grand touring, which is the
ideal primary use for the Mark VIII. This isn't a vehicle to take on an extended vacation,
simply because you'd probably want even more room and would therefore also have the
trunk to go along with the interior space.

And of course, outside that trunk is the Mark's most endearing feature, the
vestigial "spare tire carrier" molded into the trunk lid. It's probably dumb and slightly
anachronistic, but the spare tire bulge is the Mark vary's link to the long heritage of
Lincoln Continentals and Marks. I for one am glad they kept it.

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